Starting a law firm in New South Wales
The Law Society of NSW issues the certificate, Lawcover insures the practice, and the Legal Profession Uniform Law sets the conditions. Here are the steps in order, what each costs in 2026-27, and where each fact comes from.
The Society issues the certificate once the supervised practice condition is removed, the course condition is met and Lawcover confirms cover. A sole practitioner registers through the certificate form; an incorporated legal practice gives 14 days' notice.
The steps in New South Wales
1. Have the supervised practice condition removed
Statutory condition 2 on a NSW certificate requires supervised legal practice for 18 months or two years, depending on how you qualified. Apply online to the Law Society with your supervisor's evidence against its Supervised Legal Practice Guidelines. The decision must be made before you start as a principal, because a principal cannot practise as a sole practitioner while condition 2 stands.
2. Complete the practice management course
Condition 3 requires an approved practice management course before you practise as a principal. The Law Society names itself, the College of Law and FMRC Legal as providers. The Society's course runs three full days, in a room or online, with online pre-work and a trust accounts exam, and 2026 intakes run February to December. The provider tells the Society when you finish and the condition comes off. The fee is on LawInform behind a login and is not published on the course page.
3. Apply to Lawcover
Section 45 of the Uniform Law requires an unsupervised principal to hold professional indemnity insurance, and Lawcover is the NSW insurer. A new practice registers with the Law Society Registry, which tells Lawcover the start date. The 2026-27 premium is a percentage of the previous year's gross fee income, at most 4.35% for income up to $200,000 and a minimum of $220 plus GST and stamp duty, with a new practice rated on its estimate. Cover is $2 million a claim. The Society will not issue the principal certificate until Lawcover confirms cover.
4. Apply for the certificate as a principal
An existing NSW certificate holder lodges the variation application to practise as a principal; a lawyer without a current certificate applies for a grant online. The form takes the new practice's details. For 2026-27 the practising fee is $550 and the fidelity fund contribution $90, $640 in total with no GST; Law Society membership is a further $440 and optional. Fees are halved for a start on or after 1 January.
5. Give notice if the practice is a company
An incorporated legal practice must give the Law Society written notice at least 14 days before it starts, under section 104 of the Uniform Law and rule 28 of the General Rules, on the Notice of Intention to Engage in Legal Practice form, with the ASIC certificate of registration, a current company extract showing the directors, and the business name registration. An unincorporated legal practice has its own version of the form. A sole practitioner trading under a name other than their own registers the business name with ASIC.
6. Open a trust account only if you need one
A practice that arranges its affairs so that it never receives trust money does not need a general trust account. If it does, the account must be with an authorised deposit-taking institution in NSW, named as a law practice trust account, and the Society notified within 14 days of opening. Appoint an external examiner and notify the Society within 30 days of first receiving trust money. The trust year runs 1 April to 31 March, with the examiner's report due by 31 May. A statutory deposit applies once the account's lowest balance since opening reaches $10,000, calculated quarterly with the Society's calculator.
What it costs in 2026-27
The regulatory costs before rent, software and marketing.
| Item | Amount | Source, read 23 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Practising certificate as a principal | $550, no GST | Law Society of NSW, 2026-27 scale of fees |
| Fidelity fund contribution | $90, no GST | Law Society of NSW |
| Law Society membership, optional | $440 including GST | Law Society of NSW |
| Professional indemnity insurance | A percentage of fee income, at most 4.35%; minimum $220 plus GST and stamp duty | Lawcover, 2026-27 |
| Practice management course | Not published on the course page | Law Society of NSW, College of Law or FMRC Legal |
As published on 23 October 2026. A practice starting on or after 1 January pays half the certificate fee.
If the practice will hold client money
Only if you receive trust money. Open the account with an authorised ADI in NSW, notify the Law Society within 14 days, and appoint an external examiner within 30 days of first receiving trust money.
The part the regulator does not cover
The Law Society and Lawcover settle the certificate and the cover. Neither covers what a NSW client hears when they ring a one-lawyer firm during a hearing, and that is where most first-year enquiries are lost. Our phone and intake checklist for a new law firm covers the number, who answers when you are in court, the questions the first call has to capture, and where the record of each call goes. EzyBiz LEX was built for a practice at this stage: an Australian business number in an app on the phone you already carry,
Questions about starting a law firm in New South Wales
There is no separate notice form for a sole practitioner. You tell the Law Society through the practising certificate variation or grant application, which takes the practice's name, address and start date, and the Society passes the start date to Lawcover. The 14-day notice applies to an incorporated or unincorporated legal practice.
Yes. The Law Society's guidance is that a practice only needs a general trust account if it receives money that must be deposited in one, and a practice can arrange its affairs so that it does not. Your certificate then carries the condition that you are not authorised to receive trust money.
Lawcover rates a new practice on its estimated gross fee income for the year. The 2026-27 base rate is at most 4.35% of income up to $200,000, so a first year estimated at $100,000 would be around $4,350 before discounts, GST and stamp duty, and a practice with almost no income pays the $220 minimum plus GST and stamp duty. Lawcover's calculator page sets out the discounts.
An approved course that removes condition 3 from your certificate. The Law Society's version is three days with online pre-work and a trust accounts exam; the College of Law and FMRC Legal also run approved courses. Completing it is a prerequisite to practising as a principal, not something you can do within six months of starting as in the ACT.
Primary sources and further reading
Every section reference and figure in this guide traces to one of these. They are listed so you can check the guide rather than take its word for it.
- Practising certificate conditions, The Law Society of New South Wales. Conditions 2 and 3, and the principal category.
- Commencing practice checklist, sole practitioner, The Law Society of New South Wales.
- Commencing practice checklist, incorporated legal practice, The Law Society of New South Wales. The 14-day notice.
- Practice management course, The Law Society of New South Wales. Condition 3 and the approved providers.
- Scale of fees 2026-27, The Law Society of New South Wales.
- Variation application to practise as a principal, 2026-27, The Law Society of New South Wales.
- Trust account notification forms, The Law Society of New South Wales.
- Statutory deposits, The Law Society of New South Wales.
- How we calculate your premium, Lawcover. The 4.35% rate, the $220 minimum and the discounts.
- Frequently asked questions, Lawcover. Registration of a new practice through the Law Society.
- Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015, NSW legislation. Rules 14, 16, 28, 50 and 66.
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